Sectional fastener



H. w. DAVIDSON. SECT|0NAL FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED APR- 6- I921.

1,412,459, Patent ed Apr. 11, 1922.

jfemy (DUI 22219021 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY W. DAVIDSON, OF LANCASTER, OHIO.

SECTIONAL FASTENER.

Application filed April 6, 1921.

useful Improvements in Sectional Fasteners,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved sectional fastening device, andrhas for its primary object to provide a fastening device or retainer which will beemployed in the form of a readily, attachable button, capable of'being conveniently and securely applied to various articles of wearing apparel, without being stitched or sewed to the fabric of the garment.

In carrying out the invention, my improved fastener or retainer comprises essentially a button member and a fastening member, one of said members being formed to include an axially projecting stud which is capable of entering into a relatively funnel shaped mouth provided in the other member, the member having the mouth formed therein being formed to include an improved spring structure which will automatically operate, in conjunction with the sloping walls of the mouth, to grip the outer end of the stud so as to lock the latter within said mouth, and to prevent accidental separation from occuring between the members, and the said member carrying the spring structure being formed to include manually operated means which upon being suitably actuated will serve to draw the spring structure into the enlarged portions of the mouth, thus permitting the stud member to be -with drawn from locked engagement with the spring structure and to thereby permit of the separation of the sections or members of the fastening.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a resilient mounting for the projecting stud, said mountingserving to retain the button member in an orderly condition when the same is'being worn upon articles of clothing and .to enable the device to resent a neat and attractive appearance.

ther objects of the invention reside in the provision of a construction which may be cheaply manufactured by reason of its sim-' plicity in construction and design, to be capable of being conveniently operated, compact and durable and to present a neatand attractive appearance when worn.

For a further understanding of the invert Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922. Serial No. 458,962.

tion, reference is to be had to the following description and to the accompanying drawing, 111 which similar characters of reference denote like and corresponding parts throughout the several views thereof.

In the drawing:

l lgure l is a horizontal sectional view taken through the improved sectional fastener or retainer comprising the present invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure l,

Figure 3 is a detail view disclosing the cover plate of the fastening member and the associated spring structure carried thereby.

Figure at is a perspective view showing the base plate construction of the fastening member, and

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of the button member and disc-losing more essentially the projecting stud.

Referring more particularly to the details of the invention, the numeral 1 designates the improved fastener or retainer comprising the present invention. In its preferred form the fastener is employed in the capa city with articles of wearing apparel for ordinary garment fastening purposes. By the construction of the fastener, as will be hereinafter set forth, it is possible to permit of the convenient and positive association of the fastener with a garment without resortiug to the expediency of stitching or sewing. The fastener consists essentially of a pair of separable elements which may be termed, for convenience in description, the button member and the fastening member, the said members being designated by the numerals 2 and 3 respectively a The button member consists of a metallic shell in the form of the invention illustrated, but it will be apparent that the same may be formed from any other suit-able materials such for example as bone or an imitation thereof. However, since the principles of the invention are capable of being clearly set forth by reason of the metallic construction of the button member, it is for this rea son that the same has been selected to exemplify the invention. The said button member includes an outer plate at and an inner plate 5, which are reversely curved and are adapted to have the adjoining edges thereof suitably united as at 6, the outer plate 4 may bear any desired ornamentation or indicia. The inner plate 5 is provided centrally with an opening through which projects loosely the shank 7 of a stud S, the latter having its .inner end located within the button member 2 and formed to include an enlarged head 9. A coil spring 10 is disposed to surround the shank of the stud and the opposite ends of said spring engaged with the plate 5 and the head. 9 respectively 1 in order that the said spring will serve to hold the head 8 in engagement with the outer plate 4;. By means of the fastening member the stud whenapplied will be forced inwardly so as to place a certain degree of ten sion upon the spring 10. This tension results in causing the button member to maintain a neat and orderly position upon the garment 11 with which it is associated, and to prevent sagging or dropping thereof. This feature is particularly desirable when the button member 2 is of the brass ornamental variety commonly worn upon many varyin kinds of uniforms. The stud 8 has a projecting end 12, which extends some distance'beyond the inner plate 5, and is terminated in a relatively enlarged, substantially conical or pointed extremity13. The extremity 3 enables the stud to be readily forced through ordinary fabric garments and also, by reason of this formation, the fastening member 3 iscapable of being .engaged with the end of the stud to prevent accidental removal of the butt-011 member from the garment 11.

The fastening member includes a base plate 14 and a cover plate 15, in this instance of metallic construction, and the said base plate is formed axially with an outwardly projecting sleeve or boss 16, which is generally of funnel shaped formation, and includes an enlarged entrance or mouth 17, a somewhat restricted intermediate portion 18 and a relatively enlarged inner end .19 in or-. der that the said sleeve will be capable of receiving the enlarged end 13 of the stud 8. In order to lock the stud within the sleeve 16, use is made of a spring structure 20, which in this instance includes a pair of relatively spaced fiat leaf springs 21. These springs have their outer ends secured as at 22 in the folded circumferential edge of the base plate 14.. Intermediately, the springs 21 are looped as at 23 and 'are adapted to be slidably received within integral fingers 24c stamped from the cover plate 15. After passing through the tongues 24: the springs are bent downwardly to include spaced yet resiliently separable fingers 25, which are terminated within the funnel shaped opening of the sleeve 16and are so disposed as to be capable of engaging with the enlarged end of the stud 8. By passing the loop portions 23 of the springs through the tongues 2a the cover plate will be connected with the base plate 14, which serveto hold the said plates together or to permit of relative separation thereof, theprovision of the cover plate 15 affording a convenient grip upon the fasten ing member so that thecover plate may be drawn away from the base plate to release the stud 8, thus to permit of the separation of the button and fastening members.

In operation, "the button member is held so that its stud 8 may be forced through the fabric of the garment upon which the fastener is to be used. The fasteningmember is then situated so that the sleeve 16 thereof will be capable of receiving the conical enlarged extremity 13 of the stud. By advancing the stud inwardly of 'thesleeve, the fingers 25 of the springs 21 are flexed so that the same will resiliently engagewith the inner part 26 of the stud end 13. It will be seen that when this condition obtains outward pull upon the button'member will result in forcing the/lower ends of'the lingers 25 and the extremity 13 into-the'relatively restricted part of the sleeve 16, and since the collective diameter of the extremitylfi and the fingers 25 will exceed the diameter of the internal partof the sleeve, it will be ap parent that such outward movement on the part of the button member willbe arrested. However, when it is desired to release the button member,.and to effect the separation of the fastener, it is simply necessary to grasp the cover plate 15 and by moving the same in a direction away from thebase plate 1 1, it'will be apparent thatthe fingers 25 will be lifted or moved until-the same occupy a position within the enlarged part ofthe sleeve 16. When the tonguesare thus-positioned, it is possible to force the extremity 13 easily past. the same, and thencethrough the outlet of the sleeve. 7

It will thus .be seen that the present invention provides a fastener of simple yetiniproved construction, capable of being read ily manufactued andto embody construe tion which will be positive and effective in operation. r

What is claimed is:

1. A sectional fastener of the class described, comprising a pair of separable members, one of said members being provided with an outwardly projecting stud, the other of said members being provided with a socket for the reception of said stud, said socket including ,a .relat-ivelywidened entrance portion and a reduced intermediate portion, a spring s'tructure cooperating with said socket and arranged to receive the end of said stud, whereby when said spring structure and stud are positioned within the restrictive portion of said socketsaid .members will be maintained against separation, and whereby upon the removal of saidspring structure from the restricted portions of said socket relative separation of said members may be effected.

2. In a separable fastener, a pair of members capable of being detachably connected, one of said members being formed to include an outwardly projecting stud, the other of said members being provided with a socket designed for the reception f said stud, said socket including a relatively widened entrance portion and a reduced intermediate portion, and a pair of resilient fingers capable of being received within the restricted portion of said socket to arrest separating movement between said members, and said fingers serving when manually removed from the restricted portion of said socket to permit of the free passage of said stud through said socket.

3. In a sectional fastener, a pair of separable members, one of said members bein provided with. an outwardly projecting stu having a relatively enlarged outer end, the outer end of said stud being formed to include reversely inclined conical surfaces, the other of said members being provided with a socket designed for the reception of said stud, said socket including a relatively widened entrance portion and a reduced inner portion, a pair of resilient fingers formed with said socket member and normally disposed to lie within the reduced portion of said socket, said fingers being disposed to engage with the conical surfaces of said stud when the latter is positioned within said socket member in such manner as to normally preclude separation of said members, and whereby upon the manual operation of said fingers so as to remove the same from the reduced portion of said socket, said enlarged end of said stud will be capable of freely passing through said socket.

4:. In a sectional fastener, a pair of separable members, a stud projecting from one of said members and including an enlarged outer extremity having reversely inclined substantially conical surfaces, the other of said members being formed to include an axially disposed socket having relatively widened and reduced portions, said socket being designed for the reception of said stud, and a spring structure carried by said socket member and capable of engaging with the conical surfaces of said stud to hold the members of said fastener together, said fingers being capable of occupying the restricted portion of said socket to prevent separation of said members upon undue movement on the part thereof, and manually operated means associated with said structure and capable of moving the latter away from the restricted portion of said socket to permit of the free passage of said stud therethrough.

5. In a sectional fastener, a pair of separable members, a stud projecting from one of said members and formed to include a relatively enlarged outer extremity, said extremity being formed to include reversely inclined substantially conical surfaces, said other member being formed to include an axially situated socket capable of receiving said stud, said socket including relatively widened and reduced portions, a spring structure cooperative with said socket member and including resilient fingers capable of engaging with the inner conical surfaces of said stud extremity to maintain said members in fastened relationship, said fingers being situated so that upon undue separation on the part of the members, the

ends of said fingers will be positioned within the restricted portions of said socket to prevent the passage of the stud through the 7 socket, and a manually operated device connected with said spring structure and capable of flexing the latter so as to force the ends of the fingers thereof away from the restricted part of said socket, and to thereby permit of the relatively free passage of said stud through the socket.

6. In a sectional fastener, a pair of separable members, one f said members being formed to include an outwardly projecting stud, the other of said members being provided with an axially disposed socket for the reception of said stud, said socket including relatively widened and reduced portions through which said stud is capable of projecting, a spring structure including a pair of spaced resilient fingers capable of resiliently gripping the outer end of said stud to retain said members in fastened relationship, the ends of said fingers being situated so that undue separating movement on the part of said members will result in crowding said fingers into the restricted portion of said socket to preclude the passage of said stud therethrough, and a cover plate carried by the socket member and connected with and normally serving to conceal the spring structure, said cover plate serving upon manual operation to move the fingers of said spring structure into the relatively widened part of said socket, and to thereby permit of the relatively free passage of said stud therethrough.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY W. DAVIDSON. 

